Flood waters in historic Dresden appear to stabilise at record levels, but other east German cities remain under threat of being swamped as waters surge downstream from the neighbouring Czech Republic and Austria.

The Elbe looms large for volunteers building sandbag embankments in the east German town of Coswign

Parts of the newly-restored old city of Dresden have been badly damaged

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from the city

This purification plant has so far managed to keep the dirty water out